Related Summaries

Mobile-rewards platform Kiip is offering a more sophisticated option for mobile ad targeting, including all the usual criteria but also what Kiip calls the "neural net." This involves machine learning to target just the right time to present a reward on the basis of "a combination of lookalikes and first-party data" collected by Kiip.

The American Medical Association's designation of obesity as a disease will raise awareness, but it will not result in significant marketing changes, executives at drugmakers Vivus and Arena say. Vivus, which makes anti-obesity drug Qsymia, will incorporate the AMA's stance into promotional material but plan no immediate changes to direct-to-consumer advertising. Nonetheless, the designation will be a conversation starter for doctors and patients, and the sector is likely to follow the same path as antidepressants, Orexigen Chief Commercial Officer Mark Booth says.

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act have spent about five times as much as supporters on television advertisements, a Kantar Media analysis found. Political advocacy group Crossroads GPS has spent at least $40 million on anti-ACA advertising, and Americans for Prosperity initiated a $700,000 TV campaign opposing the law. Meanwhile, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Walgreen launched a campaign aimed at getting people enrolled in insurance plans via online marketplaces.

Drugmakers should not be allowed to substitute electronic labels for paper documents because doing so could compromise public health, the Government Accountability Office found. Although e-labeling could allow faster drug updates for patients, pharmacists and health care providers, 14 million people have inadequate access to the Internet and some websites where e-labels are posted are difficult to navigate, the GAO said. "Stakeholders we spoke with suggested that having drug labeling available in both paper and electronic form would best serve patients because it would allow them to take advantage of both options," said Marcia Crosse, director of health care at the GAO.